Drawer guide rail assembly

ABSTRACT

A guide rail assembly is used with a drawer to guide the movement of the drawer into and out of an article of furniture. The assembly has a supporting rail attached to a supporting surface and a pull-out rail attached to the drawer. At least one carriage is positioned between the supporting rail and the pull-out rail, and the supporting rail and the pull-out rail have stops for limiting movement of the pull-out rail and the carriage with respect to the supporting rail. A spring is loaded as the drawer is moved to the drawer-open position and actuated when the drawer is moved toward the drawer-close position. The noise associated with closing the drawer as it is pulled by the spring is controlled and suppressed by a shock absorbing device formed by a plunger and plunger-receiving cylinder. When the pull-out rail engages the plunger as it is moved toward the drawer-close position by the spring, the air within the cylinder is compressed by the plunger so that the pull-out rail and carried drawer and slowly and silently move to the full drawer-close position as the air in the cylinder is discharged.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a guide rail assembly for usewith a drawer and, more particularly, to an assembly to guide themovement of the drawer into and out of an article of furniture thatincludes a noise controlling feature.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Slidable drawer opening and closing devices are well known andconventionally utilize supporting and slidably connected guide rails andrail engaging slides to support the drawer within its frame and allowfor openable and closeable movement therein. These devices are usuallymade of metal which can cause excessive noise when the drawer is closed.Some devices have been developed to at least partially suppress suchnoise. Flexible buffers have been used in a variety of configurations,and yieldable stops are sometimes implemented in slide assemblies tosoften the impact of the a drawer closing. Even with such improvements,closure noise usually is directly related to the force used in theclosing exercise and can still frequently occur unless the individualinvolved is very sensitive to the need to carefully and slowly close thedrawer and avoid the noise.

[0005] More controlled and effective drawer closure noise management isvery desirable, and it is to that end that the present invention isdirected.

[0006] More controlled and effective drawer closure noise management isvery desirable, and it is to that end that the present invention isdirected.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention includes a guide rail assembly for use witha drawer to guide the movement of the drawer into and out of an articleof furniture. The assembly is made up of a supporting rail mounted to asupporting surface such as a furniture side wall, a pull-out railattached to the drawer and at least one carriage positioned between thesupporting rail and the pull-out rail. The supporting rail and thepull-out rail have at least one stop for limiting movement of thepull-out rail and carriage with respect to the supporting rail. Amagnet-actuated shock absorbing device is a part of the assembly andincludes a plunger and a plunger-receiving cylinder forming an aircylinder. As the drawer-carrying pull-out rail is moved toward thedrawer-open position, a tab on the rail engages the small magnet in theouter end of the plunger and withdraws the plunger from the cylinder asthe drawer continues to open. When the plunger reaches its maximumwithdrawn position, it disengages from the from the pull-out rail andremains at that location until the pull-out rail is moved back towardthe drawer-close position. When the drawer is moved toward thedrawer-close position, the pull-out rail engages the plunger, the loadedspring is actuated and moves the pull-out rail and plunger and thecarried drawer in the drawer-close direction. Movement of the plunger isyieldingly resisted by the air filled cylinder and the pull-out railcarried drawer slowly and quietly moves to the fully closed position.

[0008] From the foregoing summary, it can be see seen that a primaryobjective of the present invention is to provide a rail guide assemblythat has all of the advantages of prior art devices and more and none ofthe disadvantages.

[0009] Another primary objective of the present invention is to provideguide rail closing assembly that suppresses noise when the drawer onwhich it is mounted is closed.

[0010] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide arail guide assembly having a noise suppressing feature that includes anair cylinder combining with a loading and unloading spring to eliminatenoise associated with drawer closure and cause the drawer to slowlyclose.

[0011] Thus there has been outlined the more important features of theinvention in order that the detailed description that follows may bebetter understood and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features ofthe invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto. In that respect, beforeexplaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited in its arrangement ofthe components set forth in the following description and illustrated inthe drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed and carried out in various ways.

[0012] It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting in any respect. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the concept upon which this disclosure is based mayreadily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methodsand systems for carrying out the several purposes of this development.It is important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentmethods and products resulting therefrom that do not depart from thespirit and scope of the present invention. The application is neitherintended to define the invention, which is measured by its claims, norto limit its scope in any way.

[0013] Thus, the objects of the invention set forth above, along withthe various features of novelty which characterize the invention, arenoted with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part ofthis disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, itsoperating advantages and the specific results obtained by its use,reference should be made to the following detailed specification takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters ofreference designate like parts throughout the several views.

[0014] The drawings are included to provide a further understanding ofthe invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification. They illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with their description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015]FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a closed drawer within a framesimulating an article of furniture incorporating the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of connected supporting rail,intermediate rail and pull-out rail in the fully extended positionshowing the placement of the spring and plunger-withdrawn air cylinderwith respect thereto;

[0017]FIG. 3 is an enlarged, perspective and fragmentary view of thespring and plunger-withdrawn air cylinder shown in FIG. 2;

[0018]FIG. 4 is a top perspective and fragmentary view of the drawer andframe of FIG. 1 in the drawer-open position;

[0019]FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective and fragmentary view of the drawerand frame of FIG. 1 in the drawer-open position;

[0020]FIG. 6 is a top perspective and fragmentary view of the drawer andframe of FIG. 1 in the drawer-open position with the connecting tabs ofthe pull-out rail away from the plunger of the shock absorbing device;

[0021]FIG. 7 is a top perspective and fragmentary view of the drawer andframe of FIG. 1 in the partially open position with the connecting tabsof the pull-out rail near the plunger of the magnetic drawer seatingdevice;

[0022]FIG. 8 is a top perspective and fragmentary view of the drawer andframe of FIG. 1 in the near close position with the connecting tabs ofthe pull-out rail in contact with the plunger of the magnetic drawerseating device; and

[0023]FIG. 9 is an end elevational view of the rails and carriages ofthe guide rail assembly of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0024] Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, drawer10 is positioned within a frame 12 in the closed position, the framesimulating a cabinet or chest. Drawer 10 is shown in the top openposition in FIG. 2 wherein a guide rail assembly shown generally as 14includes a supporting rail 16, a pull-out rail 18, an intermediate rail20 and a magnet-actuated shock absorbing device shown generally as 22.One or more carriages are located between pull-out rail 18, andintermediate rail 20 has at least one stop for limiting movement ofpull-out rail 18 and carriage with respect to supporting rail 16.

[0025] The operating arrangement of the rails and carriages are shown inFIG. 9. Supporting rail 16 is attached to cabinet or frame wall 32, andpull-out rail 18 is secured to drawer side 43. Intermediate rail 20 ispositioned between supporting rail 16 and pull-out rail 18. One or morecarriages 34 are positioned between pull-out rail 18 and intermediaterail 20. One or more additional carriages 36 are positioned between theupper horizontal edge 38 of intermediate rail 20 and the lowerhorizontal end of supporting rail 18. Connecting tab 28 is secured topull-out rail 18 as shown.

[0026] Pull-out rail is secured to drawer 10. When drawer 10 is opened,pull-out rail 18 and intermediate rail 20 move outwardly with the draweruntil intermediate rail 20 is about halfway extended outside the drawerfront opening. Here it engages a stop and pull-out rail 18 thencontinues outwardly alone until it reaches its outermost position. Whendrawer 10 is closed, pull-out rail 10 moves inwardly alone, then engagesintermediate rail 20 and the two rails move on together until connectingtab 28 engages outer end 30 of piston 24 and actuates loaded spring 31so that shock absorbing device 22 operates to fully close drawer 10.

[0027] Shock absorbing device 22 includes a plunger 24 and aplunger-receiving cylinder 26 with plunger 24 being movable fromcompletely within cylinder 26 to a partially withdrawn location asshown. Connecting tab 28 on pull-out rail 18 engages the outer end 30 ofplunger 24 which contains a small magnet 27. When drawer 10 is opening,tab 27 affixed to pull-out rail 18 engages magnet 27 and plunger 24 iswithdrawn from cylinder 26 until it reaches its maximum withdrawnposition where it disconnects from tab 27. It remains in this withdrawnposition until drawer-carrying pull-out rail tab 27 engages it again. Asthe pull-out rail moves toward the door-open position, it also connectswith and loads a spring 29.

[0028] When drawer 10 is moved toward the drawer-close position,pull-rail 18 engages plunger 24, pull-out rail 18 and plunger 24reconnect, loaded spring 29 is actuated and moves pull-out rail 18 andplunger 24 toward the drawer-close position. Movement of plunger 214 isyieldingly resisted by air filled cylinder 26, and the pull-out railcarried drawer 10 slowly and quietly moves to the fully closed position.

[0029] The present invention is usually applied to each side of a drawerso that two units like that described are required for each drawer.However, a single unit of the present invention may be adapted for useon a single drawer, the unit being positioned midway of the drawer frontand adjacent the lower part of the frame or cabinet.

[0030] From the proceeding description, it can be seen that a guide railassembly has been provided that will posses all the advantages of priorart devices and offer additional advantages not heretofore achievable.With respect to the foregoing invention, the optimum dimensionalrelationship to the parts of the invention including variations in size,materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, use andassembly are deemed readily apparent to those skilled in the art, andall equivalent relationships illustrated in the drawings and describedin the specification are intended to be encompassed herein.

[0031] The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, and it is not desired tolimit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed. All suitable modifications and equivalents that fall withinthe scope of the appended claims are deemed within the present inventiveconcept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A guide rail assembly for use with a drawerhaving a front, two sides, a back and bottom to guide movement of thedrawer into and out of an article of furniture comprising: a supportingrail mounted to a furniture side wall; a pull-out rail attached to thedrawer; at least one carriage positioned between the supporting rail andthe pull-out rail, the supporting rail and the pull-out rail having atleast one stop for limiting movement of the pull-out rail and carriagewith respect to the supporting rail; spring means loading when thedrawer moves in the drawer-open direction and activating when the draweris moved in the drawer-close direction; and a shock absorbing devicearmed when the drawer is moved toward the drawer-open position andactivated when the drawer is moved in a drawer-close direction to causethe drawer to slowly and silently move to the drawer-close position. 2.The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the shock absorbing deviceincludes a plunger and a plunger-receiving cylinder.
 3. The assembly asclaimed in claim 2 wherein the plunger and plunger-receiving cylinderare secured to the supporting rail.
 4. The assembly as claimed in claim2 wherein the plunger is extended to a substantially withdrawn locationwithin the cylinder when the pull-out rail is moved in a drawer-opendirection, released from the pull-out rail when the pull-out rail passesthe plunger partially-withdrawn location, remains in the partiallywithdrawn location until the pull-out rail is moved in a drawer-closedirection and re-engages the pull-out rail and moves back into thecylinder to seat the drawer carried by the pull-out rail in a fulldrawer-close position.
 5. The assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein theplunger is extended to a substantially withdrawn location within thecylinder when the pull-out rail is moved in a drawer-open direction,released from the pull-out rail when the pull-out rail passes thesubstantially withdrawn plunger location, remains in the substantiallywithdrawn location until the pull-out rail is moved in a drawer-closedirection and re-engages the pull-out rail and moves back into thecylinder to position the drawer carried by the pull-out rail in acomplete drawer-close position.
 6. The assembly as claimed in claim 1further comprising: an intermediate rail positioned between thesupporting rail and the pull-out rail and having at least one stop; anda second carriage positioned between the intermediate rail and thepull-out rail.
 7. The assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein the shockabsorbing device includes a plunger and a plunger-receiving cylinder. 8.The assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein the plunger andplunger-receiving cylinder are secured to the supporting rail.
 9. Theassembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plunger is extended to asubstantially withdrawn location within the cylinder when the pull-outrail is moved in a drawer-open direction, released from the pull-outrail when the pull-out rail passes the substantially withdrawn plungerlocation, remains in the substantially withdrawn location until thepull-out rail is moved in a drawer-close direction and re-engages thepull-out rail and moves back within the cylinder to seat the drawercarried by the pull-out rail in a fully closed condition.
 10. Theassembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spring means is engaged andactivated by the drawer moving in a drawer-close direction and urges thedrawer to move to the drawer-close position.
 11. The assembly as claimedby claim 9 wherein the spring means is engaged and activated by thedrawer moving in a drawer-close direction and urges the drawer to moveto the drawer-close position.
 12. The assembly as claimed in claim 1wherein one assembly is positioned on each side of the drawer.
 12. Theassembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein one assembly is positioned oneach side of the drawer.
 13. A guide rail assembly for use with a drawerhaving a front, two sides, a back and bottom to guide of the drawer intoand out of an article of furniture comprising: a supporting rail mountedto a furniture side wall; a pull-out rail attached to the drawer; atleast one carriage positioned between the supporting rail and thepull-out rail, the supporting rail and the pull-out rail having at leastone stop for limiting movement of the pull-out rail and carriage withrespect to the supporting rail; a spring mounted on the supporting railloading when engaged by the pull-out rail when the pull-out rail andcarried drawer move in the drawer-open direction and activating when thepull-out rail and drawer are moved in the door-close direction to urgethe drawer to move to the door-close position; and a shock absorbingdevice including a plunger and a plunger-receiving cylinder, the plungerbeing engaged by the pull-out rail and substantially withdrawn from thecylinder when the drawer and pull-out rail are moved in a drawer-opendirection, released from the pull-out rail when the pull-out rail passesthe substantially withdrawn location, remains in the substantiallywithdrawn location until the pull-out rail and drawer are moved in adrawer-close direction, and re-engages the pull-out rail and is urgedback into the air-filled cylinder when the pull-out rail and drawer aremoved in the drawer-close direction by the activated spring, themovement of the plunger and the responsive pull-out rail and drawerbeing yieldably resisted by the air filled cylinder causing the pull-outrail and drawer to move slowly and silently to the full drawer-closeposition.